Tennis-court marker.



. PATENTED APR. 23, 1907 W. A. JOHNSON.

TENNIS GOURT.MA-RKBR. APPLIOATIOH rn-nn AUG. 9, 1906 I I f I; 1.. a

UNITED s'ra rns rn rn T orrron.

WILLIAM A. JOHNSON, or YONKERS, NEW YORK.

' TENNIS-COURT MARKER- To all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. JonNsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State' of New York, United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tennis- Court Markers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in tenniscourt markers; and its object is to provide a simple and eflieient apparatus. for marking lines-upon a 'surface, such as a tennis-court, foot-ball field, &e.

I will describe my invention in the following specification and point out the novel features thereof in claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 .is a side elevation of my improved marker. Fig. 2 is a sectional front elevation of the same apparatus, the handle being removed and the section being taken through the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan View. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional side view of the valve mechanism and brush supporting and adjustin parts which are shown in Fig. 1.

liike characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures. I

designates a tank or receptacle adapted to hold a marking fluid, such as slakcd lime. This receptacle is supported by a frame 11, which is mounted upon wheels 12 12. Each of these wheels is preferably provided with a scraper 13.

The tank itself may be constructed of any desired material and in any convenient form. I have shown it as a rectangular box of sheet metal. It may be provided with a hinged cover 14. A screen. 15 maybe placed within the tank supported upon angle-irons 16 near the upper portion of the tank. baflle-plates 17 may be placed within the tank to prevent splashing. A handle 18 of any suitable construction may be attached to one end of the apparatus. In the bottom of the tank is an outlet 20, to which a valve 21 is connected. A flexible tube 22 is connected to the opposite side of this valve.

23 is a lever connected to operate the valve 21. This valve-lever is connected with an operating-rod 24, which is carried up to a oint near the handle 18, where it may be bent, as shown at 25, to facilitate its manipulation. A fixed stop 26 is provided on the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed-August 9, 1906. Serial No. 329,820.

One or more Ratentecl April .23, 1907.

frame 11 in the path of movement of the valve-lever 23 to imit the-movement of the latter lever when it has been pushed over to An adjustable stop-piece close the valve 21. 27 is shown on the other side of valve-lever 23, which is arranged to limit the movement of the lever when it has been pulled over to 0 en the valve 21. Screws 28, extend ng t rough a slot in the stoppiece 27 and into the frame 11, are provided for the purpose of setting the stop-piece, and thus adjusting the amount of the maximum opening of the valve 21 to a predetermined degree.

30 designates a bracket which is attached to the lower part of the frame 11 and to which a supporting-arm 32 is pivoted at 31. To the under side of one end of the support ing-arm 32 an ordinary flat paint-brush 33 may be clamped by means of a screw 34. The flexible outlet-tube 22 is led to a point near this end of the supporting-arm and may be attached thereto.

A designates a surface upon which this apparatus isto be used. It maybe seen that the brush 33 is arranged to rest upon and to be drawn over this surface. It may be arranged to do this by its own weight. 1 prefer, however, to provide an arrangement which I will now describe for increasing the pressure of the brush upon the surface A.

A tension-spring 36 may be connected to the su porting-arm 32 at the opposite end from t at'to which the brush 18 attached.

A regulating-screw 37 in the arm 32 may be provided to limit the upward movement of this end of the supporting-arm, and a locknut 38 may be used in conjunction with this screw to hold itin place after ithas been set in the desired position.

39' designates a guide which I sometimes use to prevent any lateral movement of the sup orting-arm 32 and the brush 33.

.l 1e 0 eration of this apparatusis obvious. A suitab e marking fluid is placed in the tank or receptacle 10. The surface to be marked ofl may be laid out with strings to act as guides, and the apparatus may be pushed along with its forward wheel following these guide-lines. The valve 21 may be opened bya movement of operating-rod 24, when the marking fluid will pass down through fiexi ble tube 22 to the brush '33, which will spread it upon the surface as desired. The lower part 35 of the end of supporting-arm 32 which holds theibriish may be suitably grooved to feed the marking fluid evenly to the brush.

The brush may be of any desired width. The marks which. I have according to comwider or narrower lines.

wheels from marking the surface. p portion of the frame 111 may be made flat, as

The scrapers 13 13 will remove particles of dirt from the wheels, and thus prevent the shown, so that it willcatch any foreign matter which is scraped from the front wheel.

This is im ortant, as the front wheel is often run direct y over old lines in remarking a tennis court.

While means are provided forv causing the brush 33 to bear upon the surface to be marked, the llexible outlet-pipe. 22 andthe spring, 36 are so arranged that the brush will be raised by any lumps or projections and will not gouge into a surface such as an athletic field. Another of the many advantages of this device is the ease with which the brush may be removed to be cleansed or to be replaced by another brush. The operator may at will vary the flow of the marking fluid to the brush and may of course shut it off en-- tirely. A hook 40 may beprovided to hold the brush off from the ground when the apparatus is not in use or is being moved about .ovcr surfaces which are not to be'marked.

This ii'ivention is applicable to many uses other than those herein pointed out, and I do not, of course, limit myself to any specific uses.

What I claim istain marking fluid, and a. flexible outlet-pipe connected to said receptacle.

The front.

marking flui I scrapers for the wheels, a handle, an outlet- 1. A wheeled receptacle adapted to con an outlet-valve connected with said receptacle, a brush and a hollow flexible connection between the valve and the brush.

6. A wheeled receptacle, a handle therefor, an outlet-valve connected with said recep tacle, a brush, a hollow flexible connection between the valve and the brush, and means for operatin said valve from the handle.

7. A Wheefied receptacle, a handle therefor, an outlet-valveconnected with said receptacle, a brush, a hollow flexible connection between the valve and the brush, an operating-rod arranged for operating the valve fromthe handle, a stop for the valve in its closed position, and an adjustable stop for limiting the amount of opening of the valve.

i 8. A receptacle, a running-gear therefor, a pivoted supporting-arm and a brush detachably aflixed to said arm.

9. A receptacle, a running-gear therefor, a pivoted supporting-arm, a brush detachably 'aflixed to said arm, anda flexible connection between the receptacle and the brush.

10. A receptacle adapted to be moved across, a surface, a running-gear therefor,.'a pivoted supporting-arm, a flat brush'detac'hably affixed to said arm, a flexible connection between the receptacle and the brush, a 1 spring arrangedto act upon said supporting arm to cause the brush to bear upon said surface with a constant pressure, andan ad usting-screw for limiting the action of the spring.

11. A- recetptacle'adapted to contain a a frame, wheels therefor,

valve connected with the receptacle, a pivoted supporting-arm, a brush, means for attaching'the b i ush to the'supporting-arm, a hollow flexible connection between the outlet-valve and the brush, a spring arranged to act upon the supporting-arm, an adjusting- 'screw' for limiting the action of the spring.

an operating-rod arranged for operating the outlet-valve from the handle, a stop for the valve in its closed position, and an adjustable stop for limiting the amount of opening of the outlet-valve.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses".

' WILLIAM A. JOHNSON.

Witnesses ERNEST W. MARsnALL, CYRUS P. Jones. 

